


Fireflies in the Garden

by harlequinfabray



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, M/M, Outsiders AU, the outsiders au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-20 06:33:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4777136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harlequinfabray/pseuds/harlequinfabray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers in The Outsiders AU. Steve faces the dangers of his tough neighborhood but he knows that his friends always have his back. Even when things don't seem like they could get any worse, they do. But the gang knows that they have to stick together so they can overcome it all.</p><p><b></b> {due to lack of interest, I will not be continuing this unless I receive inquiries to do so} <b></b></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shields and Hydras

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the Robert Frost poem of the same name. If you haven't read the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton you can still read this fic, although be prepared for spoilers if you ever do read the actual novel. The novel is absolutely incredible and I recommend that you read it! But since this fic follows along that story line you will come across the plot and spoilers for the novel. Either if you have read the novel or have yet to experience it's awesomeness, I hope you enjoy this fic!

          Steve should have known better. He should have known that if he was going to walk home alone, someone was going to try some shit with him. Not five steps out of the movie theatre, Steve spotted that familiar dark blue Mercedes speeding down the road towards him. He internally cursed himself for not seeing this coming. He started to walk faster down the sidewalk but he knew that there was no use. The familiar squeak of car brakes reached his ears over the slapping of his own shoes against the pavement and he braced himself for the attack.

          “Hey, tough guy. Where you going?” Steve heard himself being taunted. He sighed and resigned himself to what was happening. He turned to press his back against the brick wall of the theatre so that none of them could get behind him, because he knew there would be at least five of them once he turned around. He looked up to see he was in luck, there were only four of them making their way over. He still couldn’t take them, but it was less than he was expecting.

          “He was talking to you, punk,” another one said. Steve’s fists clenched at the use of the name. Only one person was allowed to call him that and it wasn’t this asshole.

          “Sorry, I guess I didn’t hear him. Maybe because of that cancer stick sticking out of his teeth,” Steve sputtered. It wasn’t his best, he knew that, but he wasn’t exactly thinking of snarky comebacks when he knew he was about to get pounded.

          “Funny,” their leader drawled as he got right up in Steve’s face. Brock. He knew this one. He and the gang had had their fair share of encounters with this particular jack ass. Brock took the unlit cigarette out from between his teeth and turned to his right hand man. Steve couldn’t remember his name at the moment but he had bright blonde, almost silver, hair but dark roots. Steve could never tell if that was natural or what, but he had to admit that it did look good. Not that he would ever say that out loud. To anyone. His friends would kick his ass for saying anything moderately nice about a Hydra. The East Gang, as they were also called, were thought to be the saints of the town. But Steve’s gang, the Shields, knew the real story. Hydra weren’t the goody goodies that everyone thought they were. Steve didn’t know how they did it, but somehow Hydra managed to cover up all their wrong-doings. He was pretty sure it had to do with the millions of dollars that each member of Hydra’s family had. Actually, Steve was pretty damn sure that was it.

          Steve licked his tongue out over his lips as he didn’t take his eyes off of Brock.

          “What do you want, Hyd?” Steve asked.

          “We were just driving by and thought you’d look real good with a scar on that pretty boy face of yours,” Brock said.

          “I’m sure you did. But I’m not so sure I agree with you,” Steve said.

          Brock let out a chuckle. He looked back to his crew, raising an eyebrow, and looked back to Steve.

          “But you see Stevie Boy, it doesn’t matter what you want. Because you’re a Shield. And we don’t give two shits about what you want. Get him,” Brock said. Before Steve had time to react to Brock’s words, his left arm was grabbed by the light haired guy and his right arm was grabbed by a guy with jet black hair oiled back and reaching his shoulders. His back hit the ground and Brock was sitting on his chest as the fourth guy, some new thug that Brock had probably just recently acquired, held his legs down. Steve struggled against them but he wasn’t dumb, he was no match for four guys.

          “Help!” Steve screamed out. “Shield!”

          “Shut it!” Brock snapped and slugged Steve across the jaw. He pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket and flicked out the blade. Brock slid the blade right along Steve’s jaw, not hard enough to cut, but enough where Steve got the idea. “Your boyfriend ain’t gonna think you’re so pretty no—,”

          “Hey, get off him!” Brock’s taunt was cut off by the loud yell and approaching footsteps from Steve’s gang. Before Steve knew what was happening, a foot kicked Brock in the ribs, knocking him off Steve. He saw Sam jump over his own body to get to Brock, kicking him over and over again in the ribs.

          “Fuck!” Brock yelled as Sam kicked him mercilessly. The newly acquired thug jumped on Sam’s back to stop him but not two seconds later he was pulled off by Thor who knocked the thug to the ground.

          “Get off the back of my gang brother,” Thor said. The thug lay on the ground, groaning. No one was a match for Thor’s strength. Steve looked over to his left as he tried to sit up and saw Tony wailing on the greasy haired guy as Clint pounded on the light haired one. Bruce eyed Brock as Sam kicked him, trying to decide if he should jump in or not. But Steve didn’t give him attention to long enough to know what he did next.

          “Stevie,” Steve heard and looked up to see Bucky’s concerned eyes staring down at him. Bucky immediately dropped down to his knees to examine Steve. He gently took Steve’s face in his hands and looked at every inch of it before moving farther down his body to make sure that no one made even a scratch on him.

          “M’okay, Buck,” Steve said, sitting up with a groan. “Just a little sore from being slammed to the ground.”

          Bucky released a deep breath and pulled Steve into his arms, hugging him to his chest.

          “What were you doing at the movies all alone, you punk?” Bucky accused.

          “You don’t like them. Neither does Sam. I wasn’t gonna make you guys come with me,” Steve explained.

          Bucky sighed and ran his hand through Steve’s hair. He knew that Steve was right. But that still didn’t mean that he wanted him walking around all alone where things like this could happen to him. Steve knew that deep down inside Bucky still saw him as that sick little kid who needed protecting at times. This was definitely one of those times.

          “Yeah, that’s right. Scram!” the two of them heard Clint yell. Steve looked up and saw the Hydras running back to their car as the Shields high-fived each other.

          “Don’t come back!” Tony yelled next. Bucky helped Steve up and Sam looked him over.

          “What the hell were you thinking?” Sam asked.

          “Relax, I already took care of it,” Bucky said. He kissed Steve’s cheek and rubbed his back reassuringly.

          “Yeah, well you’re too soft on him, Buck,” Sam said. “Next time you wanna go to the movies, there’s six of us here that’ll go with ya, okay?”

          “None of you like movies the way I do,” Steve shrugged.

          None of the guys really protested that as Bucky helped Steve to his feet. Bucky wrapped his arm around Steve’s waist, half to help him walk and half because he was still shaken that the man he loved was just attacked.

          “I was thinking of hitting that drive-in tomorrow night,” Steve said as they all began walking down the road to the house. “Anyone care to join me?”

          “Yeah, I will,” Bruce piped up. “How ‘bout it, Steve?”

          “Sure. Sounds fun,” Steve said.

          “If I don’t end up getting too wasted I’ll swing by too,” Clint said, swinging an arm over Tony’s shoulder. Tony gave him a look and Clint dropped his arm, giving him a mock offending look.

          “Which means he probably won’t show,” Thor said, followed by a booming laugh.

          “Ah, shut it,” Clint said. He then broke into a sprint and leaped over the chained fence in front of the house. Sam rolled his eyes as he did that. He wasn’t sure how many pairs of pants Clint was going to rip before he quit doing that.

The house wasn’t big, but it was all Sam, Steve, and Bucky had. The three of them had shared that house since Sam’s folks had left it to him in their will and Steve and Bucky had no other place to go. It wasn’t the biggest house but the two bedrooms and one bathroom suited them just fine. The other guys crashed on the couch more often than not. Steve was never surprised when he walked out of his and Bucky’s room in the morning and Bruce or Clint were passed out, snoring up a storm. Whoever woke up first always made breakfast, including for their living room guest. The house had been the gang’s hangout as well for as long as they had been a gang. Girls, and guys, would come and go but Shield was forever.

          None of the guys batted an eyelash when Steve and Bucky told them all that they were together. In fact, Clint even let out an “about damn time!” when they finally told them all. They were all supportive of the relationship and knew that the two of them were good for each other. Sam, who treated the two like his little brothers, only made sure to tell them to keep it down when he found out. Steve blushed but promised to do just that.

          As the day wound down, and after all of the guys one by one came up discreetly to Steve to make sure those Hydra assholes didn’t hurt him too bad, the gang dwindled out of the Wilson-Rogers-Barnes house for the night. Sam went to bed not long after and Steve and Bucky thought they might as well head to bed themselves.

          Bucky wrapped his arm protectively around Steve’s waist and pulled his boyfriend closer to his chest.

          “Hey, Stevie?”

          “Yeah, Buck?” Steve’s eyes were closed as he was comforted by the warmth of his boyfriend against his back.

          “M’gonna marry you one day,” Bucky said quietly. Steve’s eyes opened and he looked over his shoulder back at Bucky.

          “Yeah?” he asked.

          “Yeah,” Bucky said with a smile. “One day we’re gonna get out of this neighborhood and I’m gonna marry you.”

          “You don’t like this neighborhood?” Steve asked.

          “Ah, it’s not that I don’t like it, Stevie. It’s just that I don’t like always looking over my shoulder from some Hydra fucker to come up behind me with his switchblade. It ain’t a place for us to start our real lives together,” Bucky said. It made sense to Steve. Once they were married, Steve was pretty sure they’d have kids. And Steve didn’t want this life for his kids. For their kids. He didn’t want them to grow up around the new generation of Hydra that was sure to be around by then. He wanted a nice country life for him and his family. His Mama used to take him out to the country to visit his aunt and uncle and Steve could never get enough of it. All the land you could run through and not having to look over your shoulder all the time or carry a knife in your pocket just in case.

          “You’re right,” Steve admitted. “Maybe some place in the country would be nice.”

          “Like your Mama used to take you to?” Bucky asked. Steve didn’t have to be looking at him to know that Bucky was smiling. For some reason Bucky always smiled when he talked about Steve’s mama. And there were so many times that it seemed that Bucky could read Steve’s mind.

          “Exactly,” Steve said, a smile on his lips. He let his eyes slipped closed again.

* * *

 

 

          The next morning Steve was the first one awake. He barely recalled a dream he had during the night. He didn’t know what had happened in it but he remembered that he didn’t like it. It gave him a weird feeling, even after he had woken up. He did his best to shake it off as he slipped Bucky’s arm off of him so he could get out of bed. Bucky had to get to work today down at the car shop but he still had some time left before he needed to wake up. Steve liked to let Bucky sleep as much as he could. There was just something so peaceful about Bucky when he was sleeping. Steve thought it would be a sin to disturb him like that.

          He quietly walked out of the room only to find that Sam was still asleep as well. This meant that it was Steve’s duty to make breakfast for everyone. He peeked out into the living room to see if there were any unplanned guests in there that he had to make breakfast for as well. But the room was empty. That was a good sign though. It meant that the rest of the guys were home or somewhere else safe.

          Steve opened the fridge and poked his head around. Three eggs left, a bit of cheese, half the gallon of milk left, maybe a cup’s worth of orange juice, some ground beef that was thawing for dinner sometime soon, and three containers of yogurt. Not quite enough to make a good breakfast with. The eggs might have been good if there were more of them. But three definitely wasn’t enough to make an omelet for the three guys in this house. They ate every meal as if they thought it might be their last. Finally Steve decided that this would be a good morning for chocolate cake for breakfast. That had been a thing since the three of them had moved in together. What is the most stereotypical thing you can think of that three boys would do, with no parental supervision for the first time, when they had no one to answer for? Well, these guys thought that it was eating chocolate cake for breakfast so that became a regular thing for breakfasts.

          Steve opened up the pantry and took out the ingredients that he would need. The only thing he would need from the fridge is one egg so Steve was confident this was what they would be having for breakfast.

          “Morning, Steve,” Bucky said sleepily as he walked in the kitchen from the bedroom. He walked over to Steve and placed his hands on his boyfriend’s hips, placing a soft kiss to the side of his head.

          “Morning, Buck. What are you doing up? I wasn’t going to wake you up for another hour,” Steve said.

          “Bed was cold,” Bucky mumbled as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes. “I’m gonna jump in the shower. What’s for breakfast?”

          “Chocolate cake,” Steve said as he pulled a bowl out of the cabinet above his head. Bucky’s smile showed Steve that he approved of his choice of breakfast.

          “Save some batter for me,” is all Bucky said before walking into the bathroom, not bothering to shut the door as he turned on the water and stripped down. Steve watched him as he took his clothes off, because who wouldn’t? But once Bucky stepped in the tub and pulled the shower curtain closed Steve turned his attention back to making breakfast for everyone.

          Just as he was taking the cake out of the oven a bit later, Thor blasted through the front door, being careful not to knock it off the hinges this time. It took everything in Steve not to jump at the sound seeing as he would have burned his hand in the oven or on the cake pan.

          “Steve!” Thor’s voice boomed. Steve would have told Thor to keep it down because Sam was still sleeping but there was no use as Steve was sure Thor’s entrance and voice had most likely waken Sam up already. “What is it that smells so good in your home?”

          “Just pulling a chocolate cake out of the oven, Thor,” Steve told him.

          “Wonderful,” Thor exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. He knew that he would be getting a piece. No one could resist it when the guys made chocolate cake for breakfast.

          “Did I hear something about chocolate cake?” Clint asked as he walked in the front door as well.

          “Yeah, Clint. Just pulling it out of the oven,” Steve said as he set the cake down on the top of the stove.

          “Where is Sam? Is he still lazing around in his bed at this hour?” Thor asked. Thor loved to tease Sam around for some reason. But Sam wasn’t one for being called lazy.

          “We don’t all have to wake up at the crack of dawn to brush out our flowing locks,” Sam quipped as he walked out of his bedroom. Thor let out a hearty laugh as Sam nudged him as he walked by.

          “Bucky! Are you almost done bathing? We must get to our place of employment within the hour,” Thor said. As if on cue, Bucky turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel to cover his crotch as he started to dry it off.

          “I’m coming, I’m coming,” Bucky said.

          “Make sure you grab some breakfast before you head out,” Sam said to Bucky.

          “There frosting on it yet?” Bucky asked. He walked into his and Steve’s bedroom and began getting his work uniform on.

          “Finishing that up now, Buck,” Steve said. As soon as Steve covered up the last bare spot with frosting Clint came over, knife in hand, ready to get himself a slice.

          “Geez, Clint. If I had been any slower I would’ve lost a finger,” Steve chuckled.

          Bucky came out of the bedroom combing his fingers through is hair. Now that his hair was shorter again (there was a period where Bucky kept it long but Steve kept complaining that his fingers were getting stuck in it every time they cuddled or when they were having sex) he didn’t need to really brush it, his fingers worked just fine.

          “Can ya cut me a slice, Clint?” Bucky asked.

          “Git it ya’self,” Clint mumbled as his mouth was already filled with cake. He sat down on the living room floor in front of the television and turned on some cartoon. Bucky rolled his eyes and walked over to Steve, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind.

          “Thanks for making breakfast, Stevie,” Bucky said.

          “Get a room,” Clint shouted between bites.

          “It’s our house,” Steve quipped back.

          “Whose house is it, now?” Sam asked. He raised an eyebrow at Steve as he cut a slice a cake for Bucky.

          “Thanks, Sam,” Bucky said, taking the slice from Sam.

          “We pay half of the rent,” Steve said to Sam.

          “Yeah,” Sam chuckled. “You pay _half_ and that’s between the two of you.”

          “We have one bedroom, you have one bedroom. Seems fair to me,” Steve smiled. They were both only joking around. The three of them agreed on how the money would be split the first day that they all moved in together.

          Bucky plopped down on the couch, lounged out to make himself comfortable as he ate his cake. Clint laughed at something that happened on the cartoon and Thor leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom as he waited for Bucky to finish eating.

          “Steve, what’re you doing today?” Sam asked as he slipped on the button up shirt he wore over his white t-shirt when he went to work down at the VA.

          “I don’t have much planned until I head to the movies with Bruce and Tony tonight,” Steve said as he got a piece of cake for himself.

          “I’ll babysit him,” Clint said after he had taken the last bite of his cake.

          “Sounds good,” Sam said. He moved over to the armchair he kept his shoes next to so he could slip them on.

          “Just make sure you give me a tip this time. Last time you shorted me. Remember, I charge ten bucks an hour,” Clint said.

          “Not that I don’t find this hilarious and all, but why are you interested in what I’m doing anyway, Sam?” Steve asked. He sat down at the table with his plate and began eating his piece of cake.

          “You promised that you would help me fix the pipes under the house tonight, remember? You’ve promised me that three times before yet somehow they’re still not fixed,” Sam said.

          “Movie ends around ten I think,” Steve said. “I won’t be back too late.”

          “Alright, let’s go,” Bucky said. He stood up and brought he plate to the sink. He walked back into the living room to put his boots on.

          “Yeah, I’m ready,” Sam said. He put his plate in the sink as well and grabbed his wallet and the keys to the truck out front. “Ready, big guy?”

          “I’ve been waiting for Bucky to be ready for some time now,” Thor answered with a smile. He headed towards the door and opened it for the three of them.

          “Bye, babe,” Bucky said. He leaned in and gave Steve’s lips a quick peck before pulling back and licking hips lips. “Mm, chocolatey.”

          “Have fun,” Steve said with a chuckle. Bucky followed Sam out the door and Clint and Steve could hear the truck door’s close and then the truck take off with a roar. That definitely meant that Bucky was driving.

          “Alright, what we doing together?” Clint asked. He stood up and dropped his plate in the sink on top of Sam and Bucky’s. Steve knew that he would have to clean those before he and Clint did anything else today.

          “Well, I need to clean up around here. You mind helping?” Steve asked. Clint might be a joker but he would definitely help any of his friends if they asked him for anything.

          “Sure thing. What do you want me to get to first?” Clint asked.

          “Bathroom?” Steve asked.

          “On it,” Clint said and made his way into the bathroom.

          Steve brought his own empty plate to the sink and started filling it up with water so he could clean the mountain of dishes that had piled up in there over the past few days. The guys would usually wait until they didn’t have any more clean plates to use until they actually washed them. They had all said many times that they would break that habit and start cleaning more often but that was yet to happen from any of them.

          Steve finished with the dishes, dried them, and put them all away. He then cleaned out the sink and decided to sweep the floor while he was at it. He cleared all the clutter off of the kitchen table and the counter as well. Clint came out of the bathroom as Steve was finishing up with the kitchen.

          “Anything else, boss?” Clint asked.

          “Uh…” Steve put his hands on his hips and looked into the living room. “I don’t think so. Sam always makes his bed. So once I make mine and Bucky’s bed I think this place will look better than it has in a long time.”

          “Sounds good. I’ll wait here,” Clint said as he took his former spot on the floor to watch the conclusion of the cartoon from before.

          Steve walked into his and Bucky’s bedroom and quickly made up their bed. It didn’t need much work since both of them are pretty still when they sleep. Especially since they didn’t have sex last night, Steve only needed to tug the sheet and comforter up and fluff the pillows a little. Once he was done he made his way out into the living room near Clint.

          “So what’re we gonna do now?” Steve asked.

* * *

 

         

          For the next few hours Steve and Clint puttered around town, not really doing much of anything. They walked around the neighborhood and were glad that they didn’t run into any Hydras. They’d go into a few shops and look around, Steve reminded Clint that he shouldn’t steal anything just because he was good at it. Clint _was_ a master at stealing things. One time the gang had gone to the corner store to get some sodas and just hang out somewhere other than the house for a while. When they had all left and gone back to the house later that night, Clint had emptied his pockets to show the guys what he had scored. There had been five chocolate bars, three packages of gum, three keychains, and a pack of cigarettes. The guys only smoked on special occasions but Tony had made the point that Clint stealing all of this without getting caught was a special occasion. No one really objected because they all secretly wanted a smoke so Clint passed his newly acquired contraband around.

          Bruce caught up to Steve and Clint around town in the early evening. The three of them had walked around some more but Clint and Steve had been nearly every place in town that they usually went to, so the three of them just decided to head to the lot. The lot was a place that people just abandoned old furniture that they didn’t want anymore. Most of the stuff that was able to be fixed up was taken by someone within the day it was put there. In fact, that’s where Steve and Bucky got the big comfortable lounge chair that they had in their bedroom. There were a few scattered tattered (a term coined by Clint) couches around the lot that the gang would just lounge on while they hung out.

          The three of them got to the lot and crashed on the largest couch that was there. Steve rested his legs on Clint’s lap and Bruce had his head resting against Clint’s arm. It was a little chilly out so no one minded being so close together on the one couch. They didn’t do much but just bullshit as they sat there for about an hour. After Clint got bored, he told the guys that he was gonna bail and head to a buddy’s house to go get drunk. He told them that he might come hang with them at the drive-in later if he didn’t get too smashed.

          Tony wandered up to the lot a bit later. He knew that there’s where he would find Steve and Bruce as soon as they weren’t at the house. Tony joined them on the couch for a few minutes before they realized what time it was and that they should start heading over to the drive-in. They walked around the back, away from the main entrance. It was really cheap to get into the drive-in but the three of them never paid. It wasn’t about the money, or even the principle really, it was just that Tony had the urge to do illegal things, even if they were completely petty and small illegal things. Bruce and Steve went along with it usually because there really is never any arguing with Tony. The three of them jumped over the back fence and made their way to the chairs in the front. Not everyone came to the drive-in in cars so there were about five rows of ten or so chairs set up in the front of the lot, up near the screen. The three guys made their way up there and sat in the second row, behind two girls.

          “I’m so pissed off that Pietro went off with him,” a girl with straight dark black hair said quietly to the girl next to her. She had a bit of an accent and Steve was pretty sure it was Russian. “He’s never been like that before. I don’t know what his problem is lately.”

          “Brock has his way of persuading people,” the girl next to her said. She seemed to speak as if she had experience of this Brock guy persuading her a time or two before. This girl had shiny wavy red hair that came right to the bottom of her chin. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was clearly not happy.

          As usual, Tony didn’t care if someone’s demeanor was off. He put his feet up on the back of her chair and said pretty loudly, “I wonder if that red hair is natural.”

          It was loud enough that Steve knew the girls had heard him. He could see the black haired girl wanted to turn her head to the side to get a look at who said that but she made herself keep facing forward. The red head didn’t seem interested in Tony’s comment at all. She just kept her jaw set and kept looking up at the screen. Tony didn’t like that there was no reaction from either of them though. So naturally he tried again.

          “There’s only one way to find out, really. You’ve got to see if the carpet matches the drapes.”

          Steve and Bruce gave each other a look. They knew there was no talking Tony down but that didn’t mean that they were okay with how he was speaking to these girls.

          “I wonder what it’d take to see her carpe--,” Tony was cut off as the red head spun around in her seat and her eyes threw daggers at Tony.

          “I suggest you keep that big mouth of yours shut and you take your feet off of my seat. Now,” she said dangerously quiet.

          “Oh, this one seems feisty,” Tony took his feet off of her chair but leaned forward that his mouth was near her ear. She visibly cringed and moved away from his mouth. Steve saw her clench her fists in her lap and he wondered if she was going to hit him. Part of him really hoped she would. Tony deserved it after all. And it’s not like a girl had never hit him before. But none of those girls seemed as tough as this one did.

          “Why are you girls all alone here tonight, huh? No guys good enough for you? Well, lucky for you, here I am,” Tony said. The red head turned once again to face him. But this time her voice was still dangerous, but certainly not quiet.

         “What is your problem? Can’t you just let us watch this movie in peace! Or are you so big of an egomaniac that you think every girl in this world will inevitably going to fall in love with you? Because I’d like to clue you in on something. You are amazingly wrong. I’ve heard about you, Tony Stark. From many people. I try not to judge people I don’t know but I really should have listened to what I’d heard this time. Just leave us alone!” she shouted in his face.

         Tony hardly flinched though. He just blew out a puff of air and leaned back in his seat. “This one has had enough caffeine.”

         “Leave her alone, Tony,” Bruce piped up. Both Steve and Tony turned to look at him. No one talked back to Tony. Not like they should, anyway. And Bruce was the one least likely to speak up at all. He was never one for confrontation, not after what had happened to him especially. Which is why both Steve and Tony were startled to hear him say that. Especially saying that to Tony. Bruce was always going along with what Tony said or had planned. Bruce didn’t always agree with what Tony did or said but he just stuck with him because that’s what friends do.

         “What’d you say?” Tony asked. He was obviously surprised.

         “I said leave them alone,” Bruce repeated, a little louder this time.

         Tony just stared at Bruce for a moment before speaking again.

         “Fine, whatever. They’re obviously buzzkills anyway. I guess I’ll go get something to drink, m’thirsty,” Tony said. He stood and walked over towards the concession stand.

         The red head and brunette turned around in their seats to look at Steve and Bruce.

         “Thank you,” the red head said. “At least he listens to you.”

         Steve could tell she wanted to add something like “I could’ve handled him” or “I didn’t need you to butt in” but she was thanking Bruce none the less.

         “Tony doesn’t listen to anyone,” Bruce told her.

         “Well at least he went away,” the black haired girl said.

         “I’m Natasha,” the red head told them. “This is Wanda.”

         Wanda gave them a smile and a little wave.

        “I’m Steve,” Steve said.

        “Bruce,” Bruce introduced himself quietly.

        “Why don’t you two come up here and sit with us?” Wanda said.

        “As long as your friend back there doesn’t take that as an invitation to sit with us too,” Natasha added.

        “He won’t,” Steve said. He and Bruce got up and walked around to sit by the girls. Wanda moved over a spot so Bruce sat between them and Steve sat on the other side of Natasha.

        “I feel like I’ve seen you around before, Steve,” Natasha said. “And why do I feel like it has something to do with my car?”

        “Car? Well, my boyfriend and one of my best friends works over at the car shop on Deex Street. Sometimes I go and hang out over there while they’re working,” Steve said.

        “Oh, right, right. The good looking one with the dark brown hair and blue eyes, that your boyfriend?” Natasha asked.

        “Yeah, that’s Bucky,” Steve said. He couldn’t help the little smile that came to his lips whenever he said Bucky’s name.

        “He’s cute. You’re a lucky guy,” Natasha said with a smile.

        “Thanks,” Steve smiled some more. “Every day Thor comes home and talks about all the girls who flirt with them as they work. Neither of them do anythin’ about it though ‘cause Thor’s into some girl named Jane and, well, Bucky’s with me, so.”

        “Thor…” Natasha mused. “That the one with the long blond hair?”

        “Yep, that’s him,” Steve said.

         Bruce had been talking to Wanda quietly but all four of them turned their heads when they heard some of the chairs falling a few rows behind them. There came Clint, pretty drunk off his ass, making his way towards them. He had bumped some girl with his hip and apologized to her as he giggled. Natasha gave a small chuckle when he walked their way.

         “Eyyy!” Clint greeted when he saw Steve and Bruce sitting up with the girls. “And who are these beautiful creatures?”

         “This is Natasha and that’s Wanda,” Steve introduced them. “This is Clint. Who usually isn’t _this_ drunk.”

          Clint took a seat next to Wanda and began almost immediately telling her how pretty he thought her hair was.

          “Where’s Tony?” Clint asked, realizing after a few minutes that he was supposed to be here with Steve and Bruce.

          “He was picking on the girls,” Bruce told him.

          “Yeah, so tough guy here told him off,” Wanda told Clint.

          “Bruce?” Clint asked. Steve didn’t think Clint’s eyebrows could get any higher if he tried.

          “Yeah, Bruce told him to go take a hike,” Wanda said.

          Almost as if he could sense they were talking about him, Tony sauntered over and came back with two cokes in his hands. He reached between Steve and Natasha’s head to try and hand one of the cokes to her. “For you, m’lady”

          To Steve’s surprise she took the coke. But she didn’t take a sip. She stared down at for a minute before rising to her feet. She reached out and gently took Tony by the collar. She guided him to take a few steps to the right, so he was further away from Steve. Then Natasha pulled her hand back and threw the coke in Tony’s face. Without a word, she threw the cup down at Tony’s feet, turned around and sat back down next to Steve. The rest of them stared slack jaw at Tony as he recovered from what happened. He wiped the coke out of his eyes and turned his head slowly to stare at Natasha. Steve couldn’t help but let out a chuckle which brought Tony’s attention to him. Clint was downright laughing at all of it but Tony knew he was drunk so he kept his attention on Steve for the moment.

          “Fuck this,” is all Tony mumbled before walking away and out the exit of the drive-in.

          “Way to go,” Bruce said to Natasha once Steve had left.

          “Thank you,” Natasha answered him with a smile on her lips.

          “So what’re you girls doing here by yourselves anyway?” Clint asked. It was a question that neither Steve nor Bruce had asked. Clint didn’t mean any harm by it, he was just wondering if maybe they were having a girl’s night or if they came with some guys and just ditched them.

          “We came with some of our friends,” Natasha said.

          “Brock and Pietro,” Wanda said. “They were drunk. Well, Brock talked Pietro into drinking too much. He’s never done that before so Nat and I are pretty pissed at them.”

          Steve recognized their names. They were Hydra guys. He knew he probably shouldn’t have been surprised that these girls knew Hydra. They seemed like upper class kind of girls who might associate with them. Brock was the guy that had sat on his chest yesterday, and now that Steve heard the name, he was able to place it with the guy who had the platinum blond hair that was helping Brock kick the crap out of him. He was trying not to automatically judge these girls just based on who they associated with though. They seemed like pretty cool girls to him so he didn’t want to make a jerk out of himself for a stupid reason like that.

          “You seem pretty protective over Pietro,” Steve noticed from the way she talked, and her demeanor, when she talked about him. “He your boyfriend?”

          “Basically,” Natasha almost sneered, a playful smirk dancing on her lips. Wanda gave her a look before looking back to Steve to answer his question.

          “No, he’s my twin. We were adopted by a family here when we were little but lived in an orphanage in Russia some time before that. I guess I just got used to taking care of him so much over there that sometimes I can be a bit overprotective still,” Wanda explained. “But Brock is her boyfriend.”

          “Unfortunately,” Natasha added.

          There was a tense silence for a minute or so and Steve decided that he didn’t like it.

          “I’m gonna go grab a soda from the concession stand. Anyone want anything?” he asked.

          “Yeah,” Clint stood up and handed him a twenty dollar bill. Steve wouldn’t be surprised if he stole that from somewhere. “Get something for everyone, alright? On me.”

          “Natasha, you wanna come with me?” Steve offered.

          “Sure,” Natasha rose to her feet and the two of them walked over to get in the line for the concession stand. The line was pretty long so Steve decided to make conversation. But of course the last thing Steve wanted to talk about was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

          “So your boyfriend is a Hydra?”

          “Yeah, he is. And you and your friends are Shields,” Steve could tell this wasn’t a question. She was stating it.

          “Yeah, we are.”

          “I could tell. But I never had any reason to dislike Shields, so,” she said with a shrug. “Your buddy, though, him I have reason to dislike now.”

          “Tony? Yeah, he’s the kind of guy you either love or hate. There’s really no in between with him,” Steve said.

          “And you love him?” Natasha asked.

          “The whole gang does. We’ve known him ever since he moved here from the city,” Steve said.

          “How long ago was that?” Natasha asked.

          “About five or so years ago,” Steve thought for a moment. “Yeah, around that.”

          “He just fit right in with your Shields, huh?”

          “He did,” Steve said.

          “He seems to be the exact opposite of Bruce. But Bruce seems to handle him just fine,” Natasha said.

          “They’ll never admit it out loud, but they’re best friends. They really depend and take care of each other. When Bruce got hurt real bad Tony was hell bent on making sure it never happened again. We all were, of course, but Steve seemed to take it the hardest,” Steve said.

          “Bruce was hurt?” Natasha asked, genuine concern in her eyes.

          So Steve began to tell her the story. One day about three years ago Bruce was walking to meet the gang at the lot from his house. When he got two blocks away from his house some Hydras noticed that he was all alone. So being the tough guys that they were, thought that six against one would be fair. Sarcasm, of course. Bruce knew he was in trouble when he first spotted them, but what could he do? He just balled up his fists and prayed that he wouldn’t be hurt too badly. But the guys had him on the ground and bleeding within seconds. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see when the next punch would be coming. He didn’t want to know. He only opened his eyes when he heard the unmistakable sound of a switch blade opening. Bruce’s eyes were wide with fear as the Hydra who was on top of him teased the blade along his throat, not hard enough to break the skin though. The guy on his chest got up after another guy said something to him. Bruce’s hearing was failing him so he wasn’t even sure what the guy said. All he knew what that the pressure was gone from his chest but then replaced when another guy, the one who had spoken, took his place. Bruce saw that this particular guy had rings on every finger of his hand. Bruce winced before he even hit him. But then the blows started. Right then left, left then right. But that was the last thing that Bruce remembered. That’s when Steve recalls where he and the gang were when this was all going down. It had been about fifteen minutes since Bruce was supposed to meet them and he was never late. The gang started the walk to Bruce’s house. Surely they’d meet him along the path somewhere and then hassle him about taking too long greasing up his hair or something like that. Bucky had been the first one to hear the sound. He made everyone be quiet so he could listen for it again. The next time Thor heard it as well. Bucky said it was coming from an alleyway so he led the gang down that way. Clint was the first one to spot him and he broke into a run towards him.

          “Bruce!” he yelled. He pulled garbage bags off of him. He had clearly been dumped here by the Hydras when they were done with him. The gang all knew it was the Hydras who were responsible. There was literally no one else who would want to hurt Bruce. He was one of the nicest people you’d ever meet and he’d give you the shirt off of your back if you needed it.

          “Oh, fuck,” Bucky said. He kneeled down at Bruce’s head and carefully pulled him up so he was leaning against Bucky’s chest and lap. “Bruce? Bruce, can you hear me?”

          Tony was pacing back and forth, dragging his hands through his hair. Thor was standing over Bruce, his hand to his mouth as he tried to calm himself so he wouldn’t outburst. Sam dropped down next to Bucky and took his own shirt off, using it to clean the blood off of Bruce’s face. Bruce moaned softly again and this made Steve fall to his knees as well. Just seeing him so broken was the most heartbreaking thing that Steve had ever seen or experienced next to the day that his mom died. Once they got him awake and to the hospital, it turned out that he had four broken ribs, needed fifteen stitches from his temple down to his jaw (which left a scar that Bruce still had), a slightly fractured jaw (which the doctors told him he was lucky to have with the amount of pounding it seemed like his jaw took), a mild concussion, and a shattered knee bone. It took months for Bruce to heal, and even then, he still hadn’t recovered. To this day Bruce still flinches if someone speaks too loud or he feels a conflict coming on. Since that day, Bruce always carried a switch blade with him in his back pocket. It was black and sometimes Bruce would stick his hand into his back pocket just to remind himself that he had it, and that he would be okay because he could defend himself with the knife if anything like that ever happened to him again.

          When Steve finished telling Natasha the story he didn’t even realize she was looking at him. Steve was just staring off into space, a patch of grass was all that was in his focus.

          “Steve?” Natasha asked after a few moments. Steve snapped out of his daze and looked up to meet Natasha’s eyes.

          “Sorry. Sometimes that story just gets me,” Steve explained.

          “I understand. I’m sorry that happened to Bruce. He didn’t deserve that,” she said. Steve just nodded his head and stepped up to the register as it was their turn in line. He ordered five cokes and handed the twenty that Clint gave him to the cashier. Steve stuffed the change in his pocket so he could pick of some of the cokes. He picked up three and Natasha grabbed two. They made their way back over to the seats and handed out the sodas. Steve gave the change back to Clint and he looked surprised, as if he had forgotten he’d given money to Steve for the drinks in the first place. As the movie came to its end everyone watched it, eager to see how the movie that none of them really paid attention to would end.

          Once the movie was over the five of them stood up and made their way out of the lot that the drive-in was on.

          “You girls live far from here?” Clint asked.

          “Yeah, about twenty miles. The guys were going to drive us home but since we sent them packing I guess we’re walking it,” Wanda said.

          “Lemme get my car, I live like five minutes away. I’ll drive you,” Clint offered.

          “Clint, you’re wasted. You ain’t driving,” Steve told him.

          “Then you can drive ‘em,” Clint said.

          “Yeah, I can do that,” they started to walk down the road to Clint’s house when a familiar blue Mercedes pulled up next to the group of them. Steve recognized it immediately as the car the Hydras came out of yesterday to attack him when he was leaving the movies. He also saw Bruce reach into his back pocket out of habit and grip the knife. He knew when Bruce had his fingers wrapped around the handle of the blade he felt more secure.

          “Oh, great,” Natasha mumbled. Wanda stood closer to Natasha, not sure what was going to happen.

          Brock was the first one to come out of the car and the first thing Steve noticed, other than the fact that he was drunk off his ass, were the rings on his fingers. Steve didn’t know why he had never noticed them before. It had to be that it was just now fresh in his mind since he had told the story to Natasha not half an hour ago. The next one to come out of the car was Pietro. His eyes were fixed on his twin sister and Steve wasn’t sure if he was angry at her or just worried about her.

          “What do you Shields think you’re doing with them, huh?” Brock asked. He was mostly looking at Steve when he said it but it was directed to all of them.

          “Brock, stop,” Natasha said.

          “We didn’t have a way home so they were just going to drive us,” Wanda said.

          “Shut it,” Brock snapped at the two of them. Steve could see Natasha shift uncomfortably. She was trying to restrain herself. Steve didn’t see how they could be in a relationship. Natasha seemed too independent and tough for Brock’s jackass ways.

          “We’re here now. So we’ll take you home,” Pietro said. Steve could hear the similar accent in his voice that he had noticed in Wanda. “Let’s go.”

          When neither of the girls moved Pietro walked forward and guided Wanda to the car. He didn’t lay a hand on her, just got behind her so that she would start walking. Natasha wasn’t going to let Wanda go alone. She gave Steve an apologetic look.

          “I guess I’ll see ya around, Steve,” Natasha said before sliding in the car next to Wanda.

          “Don’t count on seeing her around,” Brock said to Steve once Natasha was in the car. “Stay away from our girls. No Hydra girls would ever wanna associate with Shields.”

          Brock got in the driver’s seat of the car and sped away. Steve was too concerned for the girls’ safety with a drunk driver behind the wheel to point out to Brock that those Hydra girls _did want_ to associate with these Shield guys today.

          “Come on, let’s go,” Bruce said. The three of them kept walking down the street they were on. Clint pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and ripped it in half, letting it fall to the sidewalk behind him as he kept walking.

          “What was that?” Steve asked.

          “Wanda’s number,” Clint said. “With a crowd around her like that I sure as hell don’t wanna get involved.”

Once Bruce and Steve made sure Clint got home safely they’d figure out something to do next. Steve figured as long as he was home by midnight he could help Sam with the pipes.

          They arrived at Clint’s house pretty quickly and he stumbled up the front steps before giving a wave to his friends.

          “See ya guys, tomorrow,” Clint slurred before opening the door and walking inside.

          Bruce and Steve kept walking and decided to head to the lot since it was only a block away from Clint’s house. They made it there in under five minutes and found one of the abandoned futons in the back. They both lay down on it, side to side, and they stared up at the stars.

          “Steve? You ever think about what it’d be like to get outta here?” Bruce asked after a few minutes of silence.

          “Buck and I were just talkin’ bout that last night,” Steve said. “We said one day we think we’d like to go to the country.”

          “Yeah? That sounds nice,” Bruce said. He was silent for a second before he chuckled softly. “Could you imagine Tony in the country? He would be so confused and lost.”

          Steve laughed at the thought as well. It was true. Steve was such a city guy that he’d be miserable out in the country.

          “You think if Buck and I ever head out that way you’d wanna come too?” Steve asked. Bruce thought about it for a minute before answering. Steve could tell he was debating it in his mind.

          “I dunno. I mean, it’d be nice to get outta here. But I’d miss Tony and Thor and Clint. And what about Sam? You guys’d leave him?”

          “It ain’t like he and I are gonna live with Sam forever. We do plan on getting married one day. We aren’t gonna be a married couple living with our friend. Sam’s gotta have his own life too,” Steve explained.

          “I guess you’re right,” Bruce agreed. Steve realized that Bruce didn’t really answer his question but he wasn’t going to press it anymore. It wasn’t important right now.

          “The stars look nice,” Bruce said after a while. Steve hummed an agreement. His eyes were closed and he was just listening to the sounds all around him. The wind rustling the leaves in the trees all around them. He heard a car honking a few blocks over. There was a dog barking somewhere in the distance. The sounds were comforting to Steve. They sounded like home.

* * *

 

 

          The next thing Steve knows there’s a harsh breeze blowing over him, making him shiver and waking him up. Steve opens his eyes and panic sets in. Where was he? What happened? What time was it? Steve looked next to him and realized he was on a futon in the lot next to Bruce. Steve groaned and reached over to shake Bruce.

          “Bruce, c’mon get up,” Steve said. Bruce groaned a little but didn’t open his eyes. “Shit, Bruce. Wake up. We fell asleep in the lot, it’s late.”

          Steve’s words registered in Bruce’s head and he sat up quickly, looking around.

          “You gotta get home,” Bruce said after a minute.

          “Yeah, Sam’s gonna kill me,” Steve got off of the futon and rolled his neck since it had gotten stiff as he slept.

          “Think m’gonna stay here,” Bruce said as he lay back down on the futon. “S’comfy.”

          “Okay, but if you get cold come crash at our place, okay?” Steve asked.

          “Mhmm,” Bruce hummed and Steve knew he was already half back to sleep. Steve ran out of the lot and down the street. Luckily he only lived about a block and half away from the lot. As soon as he turned down his street he saw that the light was still on in the living room of his house. Fuck. That meant that Sam was still up. Steve wasn’t sure what time it was but he knew for damn sure that it was past midnight. He had let Sam down again.

          Steve quietly opened the front door on the off chance that Sam had fallen asleep while waiting for Steve to get home. No such luck though.

          “Steve! Do you know what time it is?!” Sam shouted, standing up from his armchair. Steve saw out of the corner of his eye that Bucky was asleep on the couch. The clock on the table behind the couch told Steve in red bold numbers that it was quarter after two in the morning.

          “Shhh!” Steve tried to quiet him, not wanting Bucky to wake up. It was a futile attempt though since Bucky was now sitting up, rubbing at his eyes. Steve sighed and his shoulders slumped.

          “This is the third time you’ve promised me, Steve. And the third time you’ve let me down,” Sam said, quieter this time but still loud.

          “I’m sorry,” Steve said honestly. “Bruce and I were at the lot and we fell asleep.”

          “The lot? What were you doing at the lot? I thought the movie ended at ten?” Sam asked.

          “Yeah, but we had to made sure Clint got home okay because he was drunk,” Steve started but was interrupted.

          “Bruce and Tony couldn’t handle him?” Sam questioned.

          “Tony left. These girls--,” Steve was yet again interrupted.

          “I don’t even care, Steve!” Sam shouted.

          “Sam, relax. Steve said he was sorry and he’s trying to explain,” Bucky said.

          “Stay out of it, Bucky,” Sam snapped.

          “Don’t you talk to him that way,” Steve sneered.

          “Steve, it’s fine,” Bucky pleads. Bucky knows that Steve can handle arguments with Sam on his own but he gets protective whenever Bucky is brought into them.

          “Don’t tell _me_ what to do,” Sam answered, taking a step in towards Steve. Steve squared his jaw and looked Sam dead in the eye.

          “Back off,” Steve warned.

          “Or what? What’re you going to do?” Sam threatened.

          “Stop!” Bucky shouted. He got up and tried to get in between the two of them.

          “Bucky, please sit down,” Steve pleaded while still looking at Sam.

          “Listen to your boyfriend,” Sam said. Neither of them was really sure who Sam was referring to. Maybe both.

          “You better get out of my face, Sam,” Steve said.

          “What’re you gonna do about it, mama’s boy?” Sam said. The second the words came out of Sam’s mouth he regretted them. He stuttered, trying to backtrack and say he didn’t mean it. Bucky looked to Steve and tried to pull him into his arms and comfort him. But Steve just looked down and took a few steps back. Sam had gone too far and they all knew it.

          “Fuck you, Sam,” was all Steve said before turning around and walking out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

          “Steve!” Steve heard Bucky yell from the doorway but Steve just took off. He ran down the street and turned down towards the lot. He tumbled down onto the futon that Bruce was still on and instantly woke him up.

          “Steve?” Bruce asked as he startled awake.

          “Bruce, come on. I need to get out of here,” Steve pleaded.

          Bruce wasn’t even sure what was happening but he could hear the shakiness of Steve’s voice and he knew it was serious.

          “Okay,” Bruce said as he got up off of the futon. “What’s going on?”

          “Sam just…” Steve trailed off, shaking his head.

          “Sam what?” Bruce asked as the two of them walked out of the lot and down the street.

          “I don’t wanna talk about it. He’s just a dick,” Steve said as they walked. Neither of them were really sure where they were going so they just kept walking. They eventually came to the park and decided that this was where they were going to stay for a while. They walked past the fountain and over to the monkey bars. They both climbed on top and just sat there for a few moments.

          “Shit, Steve,” Bruce said. Steve turned to look at him and saw his eyes were focused on the road on the side of the park. Steve turned his head to look in this direction as well and the color drained from his face. There, parking on the side of the road, was a blue Mercedes. And Steve could tell it was packed with Hydras.

          “It’s okay, Bruce. Come on,” Steve said. They both climbed down from the monkey bars and started slowly walking towards the edge of the park. They knew they probably couldn’t get away but the closer to the edge they were, the safest they felt.

          “Well look who it is,” Brock taunts as he saunters towards them with his gang behind him. There were six of them. Six against two wasn’t fair, but then again, Hydras really never played fair anyway.

          “This ain’t your territory,” Steve said.

          “Don’t matter,” Brock slurred. Steve could tell that he was still drunk. There was Pietro behind him, probably still drunk as well. Bruce’s hand found Steve’s back and Steve knew Bruce was probably freaking out inside. There were those rings, gleaming on Brock’s fingers. Steve turned to look at Bruce and mouthed to him, “Run.” But Bruce wouldn’t. As scared as he was, he wasn’t going to leave his buddy alone. But Brock must have seen what Steve mouthed to Bruce because he motioned for all his gang to get them. Brock grabbed Steve along with two of the other guys. Pietro and the last gang member both grabbed Bruce. Steve struggled against the arms holding him but he couldn’t get away. He noticed they were taking him somewhere but Steve wasn’t sure where.

          But when Steve felt his back his the stone edge of the fountain, he knew exactly where they were taking him.

          “No!” Steve shouted. But it was too late. The two gang members held his body as Brock shoved Steve’s head under the water. When Steve’s head came up again, he gasped for breath and could see through the water in his eyes that the other two guys had Bruce about ten feet away and threw him to the ground. Steve knew he needed to get free to help him but he was a little busy struggling with these guys trying to drown him. Steve was about to scream out to Bruce but Brock shoved his head under again. Steve struggled under the water, trying to press up against Brock’s grip and get free. But he couldn’t.

          Steve kicked his legs and thrashed his arms the best he could with being restrained. But it didn’t help. Brock was still holding his head under the water and Steve was pretty sure they were going to kill him. Steve just wished he could see Bucky one last time. That was the last thought that went through Steve’s head before everything went black.


	2. Thugs or Heroes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back for chapter 2! Thanks to all of you that have read this, it means the world to me!

He was wet. That was the first thought that registered in Steve’s head when he started to come to. His hair was matted against his forehead and the droplets of water were still cascading down his face. He let out a few coughs and a bit of water came up with them, burning his lungs in the process. Steve could feel the cold and hard cement under his back and he realized that he was on the ground. The ground of the park. Suddenly it all came back to him. The running away from Sam, the finding Bruce on the lot, the going to the park only to be attacked by the Hydras. Bruce. Where was Bruce? Was he okay?

          “Bruce,” Steve groaned out. He still hadn’t opened his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to. Steve still didn’t know how he had gotten out of the fountain.

Steve heard a sniffling sound coming from his right. The fear that the Hydras had beaten Bruce badly again filled Steve’s mind and he made himself open his eyes. He stared at the stars up above him for a moment before forcing himself to lean up on his elbows. His eyes immediately saw Bruce sitting against the fountain. But there was something on his hands that Steve couldn’t really make out.

“Bruce?” Steve tried again.

          “I killed him,” Bruce’s voice came out as a shaky whisper.

          “What?” Steve asked. He was sure he had a head injury and was just hearing things.

          “I killed him,” Bruce said louder this time. “I killed Brock.”

          Steve sat up, ignoring the dizziness in his head, and looked around. There, not six feet in front of him, was Brock’s body lying motionless in a puddle of dark red. Steve looked back to Bruce and saw that it was that same dark red that was on Bruce’s hands. Steve noticed that Bruce was twirling his black pocket knife around in his hands.

          “Bruce…” was all Steve could say.[  
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          “They were gonna kill you, Steve,” Bruce turned to look at him. Steve could see the unshed tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.

          “I’m gonna be sick,” Steve muttered.

          “Go ahead, I won’t watch,” Bruce sniffed. Steve heaved his body over away from Bruce’s direction and his stomach released everything that it could manage to get out, even resorting to pure stomach acid, over the bleak concrete. Steve wiped his mouth with the back of his hand when he was done and turned to face Bruce again.

          “Where’re the other guys?” he asked.

          “They left as soon as I stabbed him,” Bruce said. “I had to do it, Steve. They were _killing_ you.”

          Steve took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. He was still trying to process all that was happening. They needed to get out of here. Surely the Hydras would call the cops and they’d be here any minute to pick Bruce and him up.

          “We gotta get out of here,” Steve said.

          “Where are we gonna go?” Bruce asked. He stood up and walked over to the grass. He started wiping the blood that was on his hands over the green blades.

          “Tony,” Steve said as he struggled to stand up. “Tony will know what to do. He said he used to see this kind of stuff in the city ‘fore he came here.”

          Bruce closed the knife and stuck in it his pocket again. He needed to get rid of it but he wasn’t about to leave the murder weapon next to the victim at the crime scene. Steve steadied himself on his feet and took Bruce’s arm, pulling him towards the street. The two of them broke into a run until they were a good four blocks away from the park.

          “Where is Tony?” Bruce asked once they stopped to catch their breath.

          “Probably over at Rhodey’s,” Steve said. There was always a party going on at Rhodey’s place and Tony never missed one. It was their best bet to find Tony at this time of night.

          Rhodey’s place wasn’t too far away. It was on the edge of town, but luckily Steve and Bruce had been inadvertently running in that direction anyway. The guys walked the rest of the way there, assuming that running would attract attention to anyone who happened to see them. The pair walked up the front steps of Rhodey’s house and Bruce pressed the doorbell. They could hear the loud music coming from inside and it looked like every light in the house was on from the look of the windows shining out on the dark world.

          “Sup?” Rhodey asked as he answered the door. When he saw it was Steve and Bruce he just looked between the two of them. “Whatta you two want?”

          “We need to talk to Tony,” Bruce said.

          “Tony’s busy,” Rhodey told them. “He’s with Pepper.”

          “Just tell him it’s Steve and Bruce,” Bruce said, a bit more authority in his voice this time.

          “Fine,” Rhodey said. He closed the door and left them out on the cold stoop. Bruce looked at Steve nervously as they waited for Tony to arrive. Steve moved some of his still damp hair out of his eyes as he realized that he was starting to get freezing cold from his wet shirt.

          “Aren’t you boys out a bit past your bedtime?” Tony asked, a cigar hanging from his lips as he opened the door to greet them.

          “We need your help,” Steve said.

          “With?” Tony asked, taking the cigar out of his mouth.

          “I killed someone,” Bruce said. Tony quickly looked behind him into the house to make sure that no one had heard Bruce.

          “Get in here,” Tony moved away from the door so that the two of them could come in. Tony closed the door behind them once they were in and he guided them up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms. Tony closed and locked the bedroom door once they were all in and he stared at the two of them. “What the hell happened?”

          “Steve and I went to the park and some Hyds came up and attacked us. They were holdin’ Steve under the fountain and they were gonna kill him. So…I pulled out my knife and stabbed Brock with it. The other guys ran but they let Steve go,” Bruce explained.

          Tony took a deep breath and looked at Steve. He motioned for Bruce and Steve to sit down on the bed, which they did.

          “You’re gonna freeze in that. Take it off,” Tony said. He rummaged through the closet and pulled out a shirt, tossing it to Steve. Steve was happy to get rid of the soaked shirt and put on something warm. It was Rhodey’s so it was a little small, but not too much to be uncomfortable. “And Bruce has got a jacket on, where’s yours?” Tony shrugged off his own brown leather jacket he was wearing and tossed that to Steve as well.

          Steve held on to the jacket. He didn’t need it on now, it was warm in the house.

          “Alright, listen to me,” Tony said as he sat down on the chair across from the bed and looked at his two friends. “You’re gonna jump on the 4:05 train to Jarvistown. It’s the first stop so don’t sleep through it. Find Tesseract Road and follow it up the hill. There’s an abandoned old church up there you can hide out at. There’s a pump out back so you don’t have to worry about running water. Wait until the sunrise and then get enough supplies for a week, okay? Here’s a hundred bucks. I’ll met you guys up there in a few days.”

          “Thanks, Tony. We knew you could help us,” Steve said.

          “You guys take care, okay?” Tony said.

          “Do we have time to stop by the house first?” Bruce looked at his watch. “Steve’s gonna wanna say goodbye to Bucky.”

          “No,” Steve said. He shook his head. “I don’t wanna bring Buck into this. Just…tell him I’m sorry, okay Tony? Tell him I love him.”

          “I can’t say I’ll use those exact words but I’ll make sure he gets the message,” Tony said as he stood up. “Now get going.”

          Steve and Bruce stood up, each giving Tony a hug and thanked him for his help. Tony escorted them down stairs and let them out of Rhodey’s house. When the door clicked behind them Bruce and Steve looked at each other. Here they go, ready or not. They made it to the train tracks with ten minutes to spare before the train to Jarvistown would pull in. They hid behind the bushes that lined the edge of the tracks to keep out of sight until the train was in view. They heard the whistle blowing as the train approached and Steve spotted an open cargo car towards the back. They waited for that to come closer. As it approached the two darted out from behind the bush and leapt on board. They held themselves against the inside wall so the two train workers inspecting the cars wouldn’t see them. Once they knew they were in the clear, the two of them sat down and Steve, feeling worn out and exhausted from the night’s events, rested his head on Bruce’s legs.

          “Go ahead and sleep, Steve. I’ll wake you up when we get close,” Bruce said.

          “Thanks,” Steve mumbled. Within five minutes he was fast asleep.

          It had seemed like Steve had just closed his eyes when Bruce was shaking him awake, saying that they would have to get off in about ten minutes. Steve sat up and rubbed at his eyes, trying his best to wake himself up. The two of them stood up and went over to the edge so they’d be able to see when it was time for them to jump.

          “Alright, one, two…three!” Steve said and the two jumped. They tumbled to the grass below them and rolled down the small hill.

          “You alright?” Bruce asked.

          “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. What about you?” Steve asked.

          “I’m fine. Which way did Tony say this place was?”

          “He didn’t,” Steve said. They both stood up and found the nearest road and they decided to see where it would take them. About two and a half miles up the road the guys saw a farmer working on his tractor. This area definitely was the country, after all.

          “Go ask him,” Bruce said quietly.

          “Um, excuse me, sir?” Steve approached the man.

          “Hi, can I help you?” the man looked up from his tractor and gave Steve a smile.

          “Yes, sir. Um, my friend and I are looking for Tesseract Road. We were wonderin’ if maybe you could point us in the right direction,” Steve said.

          “Sure can. Keep taking this road for about a mile and then you’ll turn right and follow the hill on up,” the man instructed him.

          “Thank you. Have a nice day,” Steve wished him and walked back over to Bruce.

          Steve led them the way the man told him and found the road quite easily. They climbed to the top of the hill and saw the church that Tony had told them about. They got up to the church to find that it was all boarded up. Tony sure was right about the abandoned part. It didn’t look like anyone had used this church in years. Bruce helped Steve pull some planks of wood off of the back door so that they could get inside. The pair walked in the old entrance and took a look around. It was dusty and there were a few bugs scurrying over on the side of the room. The old pews were chipped and had lost their coloring long ago. An old chandelier hung down in between all of the old beams filled with cobwebs and dead spiders.

          “This is…homey,” Bruce said as he took a look around.

          “It’s not like we have any other choice though, so,” Steve said.

          They headed up to the front of the church and sat down. Bruce stretched out and laid his head back. Steve stretched his arms up and out and used Tony’s jacket as a pillow.

          “M’gonna take a nap, k?” Steve asked.

          “Get some rest, Steve,” Bruce said.

          The next thing Steve knew he was waking up to the sun streaming in from the old dusty stained glass windows and right into his eyes. He squinted and put his hand up in the air so he could block the sun and take a look around the church.

          “Bruce?” Steve asked into the silent air. When Steve didn’t get an answer he sat up and took a better look around. He looked down to the ground at his left and saw a note written in the dirt on the ground. “Went to the store. Be back soon. –B’

          Steve stretched his arms out over his head and looked up at the ceiling of the church. Now that he wasn’t entirely exhausted the church looked a lot less creepy. The chandelier had small crystals around the edges and the light from the sun hit them just right and made the light dance around the room. It would be really beautiful, Steve thought, if it wasn’t just igniting the particles of dust floating around in the air and making the place look all the more dusty and dirty. Steve stood up and brushed the dirt off his legs. He walked over to the pews and looked down each row as he walked past. Some were in better shape than others. Some looked smooth enough to get a good night’s sleep on while some of them looked like they would give someone a splinter just from looking at it for too long.

          “Steve?” he heard Bruce call from the back entrance of the church. Steve walked back around to see Bruce walking in with two big bags in his hands.

          “Right here. What’d ya get?” Steve asked. The two of them sat down up near the altar and Bruce began to take the things out of the bag to show Steve what he bought.

          “I got… Three packages of bologna, a loaf of bread, four candy bars, and this,” Bruce said and he tossed a book into Steve’s lap. Steve picked up the book and turned it over to look at the cover.

          “ _The Great Gatsby_?” Steve asked.

          “Yeah, I never read it before. Figure now is a good as time as any. Seein’ we don’t know how long we’ll be here and all,” Bruce said. “You read it?”

          “Nah,” Steve answered with a shake of his head. He opened the book up to the first page and looked down at the words.

          “ _’In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since._

_‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’_ ” Steve read from the book.

          Bruce laid back and rested his head on his folded arms behind his head. He let his eyes slipped closed as he listened to Steve read. Neither of them was particularly hungry yet so they could wait a bit for their lunch.

          After Steve finished reading the first two chapters, they decided to break for some food. Bruce took out two pieces of bread for each of them and Steve pulled out three slices of bologna for each of them. They rested their backs against the wall as they ate in silence. The two of them had definitely been hungrier than they had originally thought since they practically inhaled the sandwiches. Once they had finished, Bruce and Steve went back to the pump out back and each took a few sips to quench their thirst.

          The guys went back in the church and took their former positions as Steve began reading the story out loud again.

          “So, does Daisy really love him?” Bruce interrupted Steve at one part.

          “Hmm?” Steve looked up at Bruce.

          “I mean, they obviously had a past together. But she’s married now. Not to Jay. What do you think?” Bruce turned on his side and propped himself up on his elbow as he looked to Steve, awaiting his answer.

          “I don’t know, to be honest. It’s kinda hard to imagine when I’ve ever only been in love with one person before,” Steve said. “I don’t know if love for someone else ever really goes away or if it just fades into the background for some people. And then eventually that faded love isn’t enough and it just doesn’t work out anymore.”

          “I don’t know either,” Bruce answered, his voice just above a whisper.

          “You never been in love?” Steve asked.

          “I thought I was once. But if I didn’t know for sure then it ain’t love,” he said.

          “Well, I guess we don’t know how Daisy feels then,” Steve said.

          “What about Jay? How’s he feel? He loves this woman but she’s married with a kid. On one hand he has to want to take her away and have her be his. But on the other hand if he really loves her he wouldn’t wanna put her through the pain of a divorce and put her kid through divorce and bein’ away from her father. I dunno, Steve. You see all these love stories and think they’re pretty basic and simple. People kinda get bored of the whole thing. You see ‘em over and over again. Books, movies, TV. But if you’re in it…it can’t be that borin’. I mean, there’s always somethin’ to think about because someone’s probably gonna get hurt,” Bruce said.

          “Wow, I ain’t ever thought of it that way,” Steve said.

          “You think it’s better to hurt yourself or someone else?” Bruce asked after a while.

          “Yourself,” Steve answered automatically.

          “You couldn’t hurt Bucky. I know that. But he’d say the same thing, ya know. He’d say he’d rather hurt than hurt you,” Bruce said.

          “’Cause he loves me,” Steve said. A small smile appeared on his lips but Bruce could tell that there were mixed emotions behind it. Happiness, of course, that Steve always had when he thought of Bucky. But sadness was there too because he hadn’t seen Bucky since that night he stormed out of the house.

          “You love each other,” Bruce said. He rolled back onto his back and looked up at the beams on the ceiling. “What would you do if you were Jay?”

          “I don’t know,” Steve answered honestly. “I think if I was in that situation, I’d let Bucky…or Daisy, do whatever she wanted. ‘Cause I wouldn’t force her. I’d just want her to be happy, no matter what she chose.”

          “I wonder what it’s like,” Bruce said softly.

          “To be in love?” Steve asked.

          “To put someone first and be happy ‘bout it. To feel good about not getting what you want because you didn’t do it for you. You did it for them,” Bruce said.

          “You’ll know that feeling someday, Bruce. I guarantee it,” Steve said.

          “Ya think so?” Bruce asked.

          “I do,” Steve nodded.

          Bruce smiled a little and closed his eyes. “Keep reading?”

 

* * *

 

          The book was finished before the day was through. The two of them alternated between eating, going out to get a drink or stretch their legs out in the warm sunshine, and relaxing inside as Steve read. They almost didn’t realize that the sun had set and the night outside the abandoned church was pitch black save for the twinkling of scattered stars up above. Steve stated that it was probably safe to go out in the field in front of the church and lay down since it was dark out and no one would see them.

          “The stars sure are nice, aren’t they?” Bruce asked once they were comfortably in the tall grass. It tickled their bare arms at first so they slipped their coats on since it was pretty chilly outside anyway.

          “Mmm,” Steve hummed in agreement.

          “You awake over there, Stevie?” Bruce asked. He turned his head to look at Steve through the tall green blades. He couldn’t see much of Steve’s face but he could see that his eyes were open, staring intently up at the stars.

          “Yeah, m’wake,” Steve said.

          “You like the stars, huh?” Bruce asked. He turned his head upwards to stare towards the Heavens again.

          “ _Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,_

_And here on earth come emulating flies,_

_That though they never equal stars in size,_

_(And they were never really stars at heart)_

_Achieve at times a very star-like start._

_Only, of course, they can't sustain the part_ ,” Steve said. A smile on his lips once he had finished.

“What was that?” Bruce asked after a moment.

“S’called _Fireflies in the Garden_. It’s by Robert Frost,” Steve said.

“I mean, where did you learn it?” Bruce clarified.

“My Ma used to say it to me. Every time we went out to the country, actually. We’d go out to the hay bales at the farm my aunt and uncle lived on. We’d lay on them late at night, right before I’d go to bed, and stare up at the stars. My Ma would say that poem to me every time. She loved poems. Reading and writin’ ‘em,” Steve said.

“I like the poem. It’s like fireflies are trying to be stars but there ain’t nothing like the real thing,” Bruce said.

Steve hummed in agreement as he kept looking up. Steve knew he could fall asleep here and be perfectly fine. The only trouble would be someone seeing him when it was light out again and wondering what he was doing here. And neither of them needed anyone to get the cops or law involved with them in any way.

“Should we head back in?” Steve asked. He knew if he didn’t move now, he never would.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Bruce said. The two of them stood up and walked around to the back of the church and walked inside.

* * *

 

They went about the same routine for the next couple of days. They finished their chocolate bars in the first two days so for the next three after that all they had to eat was bologna. Both of them swore that once they got out of there, neither would eat the stuff again. They were getting low on supplies but it wasn’t that big of a deal. When they ran out one of them would just head over to the store that Bruce had gone to the first time. It was open twenty four hours so they could head over there after dark, when there wouldn’t be that many people around. The night of their fifth day in the church Bruce and Steve were both used to their positions on the floor and using their jackets as pillows or blankets; whatever they were more in need of that night.

The morning of what would be their sixth day in the church, Tony parked Clint’s pickup truck in front of the old church. He would’ve driven his own car but it would be a little conspicuous in this small town. But Clint’s rusted old Podunk truck would never be given a second look in this place.

Tony quietly got out of the truck and made his way around to the back of the church. He knew if these guys had any brains at all the back is where they would have had their entrance to the place. Happily surprised that his friends were smart enough to think of this, Tony stepped inside to spot the sleeping beauties out like a light over near the altar. Tony quietly tip toed over to them and yanked gently on Steve’s hair.

“Attention, soldier. It is oh eight hundred hours and you’re late for breakfast. And look at the shape of these barracks. I should have you run laps for the disgrace of this place,” Tony teased.

Steve groaned but let out a chuckle as he opened one eye to look up at Tony.

“Hey, Tony,” Steve said. He sat up and stretched out his arms over his head. “Is it really eight in the morning?”

“No, it’s almost noon you lazy bums,” Tony said as he waltzed over to Bruce. “Come on, sunshine. Time to greet the day.”

“God, really? It’s that late?” Bruce asked. He groaned and sat up as well.

“You guys hungry?” Tony asked.

“Yes!” Steve and Bruce practically yelled at the same time.

“Alright, alright!” Tony held his hands up in front of him.

“We haven’t eaten anything but bologna for three days now,” Bruce complained.

“You poor creatures. Oh, I’ve got something for you here, lover boy,” Tony said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. He handed it over to Steve who snatched it out of his hand. If Tony had called him “lover boy” that meant the note had to be from Bucky.

_Dear Steve,_

_Tony’s being a ass (as usual) and won’t tell me where you’re at. He keeps telling me that you’re safe though so I guess that’s something. I miss you like crazy. The bed is too cold, the house is too quiet, nothing is right without you here. I can’t stand it anymore. Why didn’t you come to me before you went away? I know you needed to go quick but I wouldn’t of needed to pack a bag or anything. As long as I was with you. You and Bruce got your faces all over the papers and stuff here. They asked me if I knew where you went but I told them I honestly didn’t. I guess that’s why Tony won’t tell me, so I won’t be lying to the cops and all. I guess I can understand that but I still wanna know where you are. I miss you. I know I already said that but I miss you so much that I could say it a hundred times. I wanna see you again. Stevie, come back soon please. I can’t take not being with you. Sam is real sorry about what he said to you. You know he didn’t mean it, right? He was just upset and in a bad mood. He was real upset about it all night. He’s so scared for you right now. Bruce, too. Not cause of the cops but because he doesn’t know where you are. The only one who does is Tony and you know Sam trusts him about as far as he can throw him. I miss you, Stevie. I can’t stop saying it. I know you miss me. I know you love me. Don’t worry about me though, I’m fine. Just working a bunch and then coming home. I don’t feel like doing anything without you. But at least you got Bruce there with you and you’re not alone. That’s something. Just make sure you guys come home soon, ok? I’m gonna go crazy soon without seeing your face. I love you, Stevie._

_Love, Bucky_

Steve smiled as he finished the note. He folded it up neatly and slid it into his pocket.

“Prince Charming give you stuff to jerk off to, huh?” Tony asked. “I would’ve read it but I didn’t wanna be scarred by the mental images he was giving you.”

“It was a clean note, Tony. He just said you won’t tell him where we are and the guys are worried,” Steve said.

“You didn’t tell the gang where we are?” Bruce asked.

“No, I didn’t want the cops to crack ‘em or anything. You know Clint gets wasted three times nightly. He couldn’t keep your location sealed if his life depended on it,” Tony said.

“Clint is a tight-lipped drunk,” Bruce said. Tony knew it too but he just shrugged it off.

“When the cops came to me I told ‘em that you had connections with guys at the local airport. I might have mentioned something like I had heard the word ‘Budapest’ mentioned,” Tony said. He then let out a small chuckle. “Clint basically had his bags packed and was ready to ship out to Budapest.”

“The cops are really after us, huh?” Steve asked.

“Yellow tape at the park, cops at all of our houses, questions galore, the whole nine,” Tony said. “Now what about that food?”

It only took a second mention before Steve and Bruce were on their feet, half sprinting to the truck outside as they slipped their jackets on.

* * *

 

Tony drove them to a Dairy Queen about seven miles down the road and the three of them ordered burgers and sundaes, all Tony’s treat. Bruce and Steve instantly began shoveling their burgers down as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks. They had eaten, just bologna. A food neither of them wanted to see, smell, or hear about again. Tony looked at them in awe as they devoured their first real meal in almost a week. He just shook his head in amusement before he started eating his own burger.

“There’s gonna be a rumble,” Tony said after a while.

“Yeah?” Steve asked, mouth full of food.

“Yep. Shields and Hydras. That little red head friend of yours has been meeting Clint down near the lot tellin’ him what the Hydras are up to. I didn’t trust her at first but Clint said you two would vouch for her as well so I figured if three of my brothers trust her, I might as well give her a chance.”

“Natasha?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah, the one who tossed that coke I graciously got her in my face,” Tony grunted.

“She can be trusted,” Steve said. He wasn’t sure how he was so sure, but he was.

“When’s it going down?” Bruce asked.

“Tomorrow. Clint got the specifics. All I know is, I’m ready to kick some Hydra ass,” Tony said.

Bruce sighed and unwrapped another burger, shoving half of it in his mouth in one bite.

“So,” Tony said between bites of his own, his sunglasses perched down low on his nose. “What’s your next move?”

Since both Steve and Bruce had their mouths full it took a little time before Tony got his answer. But when he did, it was the last thing that he expected to hear.

“I’m gonna turn myself in,” Bruce said. He crumpled up the wrapping from his burger and tossed it on the dashboard. Steve stopped mid-bite to stare at Bruce. He was sure he hadn’t heard him right.

“You’re what?” Tony asked. He obviously thought he was hearing things as well.

“I gotta do the right thing, guys. I’m not gonna just hide away like a coward for the rest of my life,” Bruce sighed. “Daisy was a coward. She didn’t come clean.”

“Did I miss something?” Tony asked, leaning forward so he could look at Steve on the other side of Bruce. “Daisy? That a cow you all met up on the pasture?”

“It’s from a fiction book, Tony. You wouldn’t know about it,” Steve said. “Bruce, are you sure? Because there’s no going back after this.”

“Well, what’s the alternative, Steve? I’m not just gonna hide from one place to another for the rest of my life. That ain’t no way to live. And if I go back I can completely clear you. You won’t have to worry about a thing and then you can be back with Bucky, where you belong. I can’t ruin your lives. You two deserve that country home,” Bruce said.

Steve looked at him with sad eyes, but knew that he was right. About all of it. He knew that there was no way Bruce could stay on the run forever. And Steve knew that he would stay with him as long as he could, to protect him. But he was already missing Bucky terribly and it hadn’t even been a full week yet.

“Bruce, think about this,” Tony said. He turned in his seat of the car to face Bruce the best he could. “You killed a guy and you ran. A pretty boy like you ain’t gonna do so well in prison.”

“Tony, I’ve got to do this,” Bruce said.

“You don’t understand!” Tony snapped. “I saw guys go in and out of the slammer back in the city. They didn’t come back the same guy they went in as. They were hardened. I didn’t even recognize my old friends anymore. It’s like prison took out all of their emotions and just replaced them with rage and fear. You don’t need any more of either of those. I am not going to let that happen to you, do you hear me? I won’t let you become one of those guys.”

“What do you want me to do, Tony? I can’t live like this. We have to go back home! Now,” Bruce said.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Tony swore at Bruce under his breath and turned the truck engine on.

“Where are we going?” Steve asked quietly.

“Home, like the kid said,” Tony huffed. He only referred to Bruce as “the kid” when he was in a foul mood. Bruce hated it; it made him feel small and weak.

“Thank you, Tony,” Bruce said. Tony didn’t acknowledge Bruce’s words as he pulled out of the Dairy Queen parking lot and back down towards the church so they could jump on the highway just down the road from there.

“What’s that smell?” Steve asked as they came closer to where the church was located. It smelled like someone had left barbeque on the grill for too long and it was burnt to a crisp now.

“Whoever smelt it, dealt it,” Tony said.

“Shit, look,” Bruce pointed to the top of the hill. The church was ablaze, flames shooting out of its every orifice as smoke billowed up and came in contact with the clouds, turning their milky white into a bleak and dismal gray.

Tony turned the steering wheel of the old clunker and headed up towards the church to get a better look. There was a school bus parked out front; obviously a site for a lunch break from an elementary school field trip. It would have made a lovely place for a picnic had it not been for the abandoned old wooden structure burning behind them.

“There’s still six of them missing!” the guys heard a woman yell. The teacher was tugging on who Steve presumed was the bus driver’s shirt as she cried. There were terrified little children running to hide behind the bus, yet their curious little eyes poked out from the side to watch the scene before them.

“You can’t go in there!” the bus driver said to the teacher.

Without even thinking about it, Bruce jumped over Steve’s lap and out of the car, running up to the church.

“Bruce! What they hell do you think you’re doing? You’re not a fucking fireman! Get back here!” Tony yelled out the window at him.

Steve jumped out after Bruce, he wasn’t going to let Bruce do this alone. If there were kids in there Steve would be damned if he just watched the place burn to ashes.

“Steve! What the fuck is wrong with you guys?!” Tony yelled. He sat there for a minute. He groaned and smacked the steering wheel before jumping out of the car as well and running up to the teacher and bus driver.

Steve and Bruce were already at their adopted entrance in the back of the church and they maneuvered around the fallen beams and the flame covered pews. They each pulled up the collar of their shirts to cover their nose and mouth so that it would help keep the smoke out of their lungs. Both of them looked around before Bruce heard one of the children crying in the back corner of the building. Bruce nudged Steve and pointed in the direction that he had heard the noise coming from. They walked over and pulled some fallen planks of wood out of the way before opening the small broom closet that was in the corner. There were the six children, all crying and covered in soot and ash.

“We’re gonna get you guys out of here,” Bruce said once he had tugged his shirt down from his face. “We’ve got you.”

Steve grabbed one of the fallen planks of wood and used it to break the window that was nearest to the guys.

“Pass ‘em here!” Tony yelled from outside the window. He had seen the glass break and knew that’s where his friends must be inside.

Bruce picked up the smallest little girl that he saw and handed her to Steve, who then carefully handed her to Tony through the broken glass still attached to the window pane. Bruce then handed Steve a little boy who he passed along to Tony as well.

“Ow! She bit me,” Steve pouted a bit when one little girl decided to chomp at his hand as he tried handing her to Tony.

“That the last one?” Tony shouted over the flames that seemed to be getting louder and bigger by the second.

“Yeah, that’s all of ‘em!” Bruce yelled back.

“Get out of there, then!” Tony shouted.

Steve turned around and started heading for the back exit of the church since the window was too small for the guys to climb out of. Bruce was right behind him as they tried their best not to inhale anymore smoke than they already had.

“Ahh!” Steve heard a scream as soon as he stepped foot outside of the church and into the clean air. He whipped around to see what had happened and saw Bruce being taken down by a falling beam from the ceiling.

“Bruce!” Steve yelled. He took a step to run back into the church but the next thing he knew, there was a knock to the back of his head and he was out cold.

 

* * *

 

Steve could hear the faint sound of a siren getting closer and closer. Or maybe it was just getting louder and louder. It sounded like the noise was following him; or maybe he was following the noise. He vaguely felt like he was moving but he knew that his arms and legs were still. The sound of shuffling around him and someone’s breathing next to him pulled him into the reality of his situation. He blinked his eyes open only to have to squint them again due to the bright light on the ceiling of the ambulance shining down into his eyes.

“Hey, easy kiddo,” Steve heard someone say from his right side. He slowly turned his head in that direction to see who had been talking. He recognized the man as the bus driver from before.

“There…There was a fire,” Steve croaked out.

“Yeah, there was. But you’re okay now. You’re in an ambulance on your way to the hospital. You were unconscious but you’re fine, the medics say,” the man told him.

“Who are you?” Steve asked. “Where’s Bruce? Where’s Tony?”

“Shh, calm down,” the man said. “My name is Scott. Scott Lang. I was the bus driver for the kids at the church today. Your buddies are in the ambulance in front of us.”

“Are they okay?” Steve asked.

“The one with the goatee--,” Scott started.

“Tony,” Steve interrupted.

“Uh, Tony, he got a few pretty nasty burns but he should be fine. He saved your life, actually,” Scott said.

“He what?” Steve asked.

“When you got out of the church, your back was on fire. The coat you were wearing,” Scott nodded to Tony’s leather jacket that was lying next to him, a black scorch mark across the back now. “As soon as you got out, he tackled ya to get the flames out. I guess he must’ve hit you too hard ‘cause you went down like a ton of bricks.”

Steve let this process in his mind for a few moments. His brain was still kind of fuzzy from being unconscious for a while but the pieces were starting to come back together.

“What about Bruce? The other guy?” Steve asked.

“Well, uh,” Scott started. He looked away from Steve’s eyes and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Is he alive?” Steve asked. He knew Scott could hear the panic in his voice.

“Yeah, yeah, he’s alive. But a beam fell on him and so I rushed in to help your pal Tony get it off of him. He looked pretty bad, but he’s alive,” Scott said.

Steve relaxed a little against the stretcher that he discovered he was strapped to. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He needed a moment.

“They’re callin’ you boys heroes,” Scott said after a few minutes of silence. Steve opened his eyes and looked over at Scott again.

“Heroes? Us? Why?” Steve asked.

“You saved those kids. Who knows what awful things might’ve happened if you guys hadn’t been driving by,” Scott said.

“We’re Shields,” Steve said with a sigh.

“You’re what?” Scott asked.

“Shields. One of the gangs, as they like to call us,” Steve said.

“Really?” Scott looked surprised.

“Yeah. No one ever called us heroes before, that’s for sure,” Steve said.

“Well they are now,” Scott said.

“We were hiding out there,” Steve said.

“You were hiding where? In the church?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, Bruce and I. Tony came up just to see us and take us out for food. Bruce…he killed a guy. We were heading back to town ‘cause he wanted to turn himself in. But then we saw the fire and heard the teacher screamin’ that there were still kids inside. We couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. But the cops have been lookin’ for me and Bruce for a few days now so I’m sure they’ll be at the hospital once we get there,” Steve said. He didn’t know why he was spilling out all of this stuff to Scott but he really needed to get it all off of his chest. Scott seemed to take it all in, too. He sat there and by the look on his face Steve could tell that he was really mulling it over in his mind.

“Well they’re gonna treat all of you guys in the hospital first before anythin’ with the law gets involved. Your health comes first, that’s just how it’ll be. So you’ve got a little time before cops get involved and all,” Scott said.

“It was self-defense, it wasn’t like Bruce was going out on a murder spree or anything,” Steve sighed. He knew he must sound really defensive but he didn’t want this guy thinking Bruce was some kind of monster or anything.

“He’s a hero. So are you and your buddy Tony,” Scott told him.

A smile tugged at Steve’s lips when Scott said that. He had just more or less told everything to this stranger about what had happened in the past week, and all he could say in the end was that he and his pals were heroes. It made Steve feel good for the first time in a week.

* * *

 

The paramedics had told the doctors at the hospital that the two patients in the first ambulance were in more need of care than the patient in the second one so Steve was just asked to sit in the hallway while they worked on Bruce and Tony. Steve sat there and turned his head to look as two double doors swung open and he saw the doctors wheeling a stretcher in. As it came closer in his direction Steve could see that it was Bruce on the stretcher. He bit his lip as they passed him and Steve could see that Bruce was unconscious, his face had burns on it and he was secured in every way possible to the stretcher. Arms, legs, back, neck, head, all secure so nothing would move around and possibly injure him even further. Behind him, Tony was being wheeled in. He was awake and clearly not feeling too bad since he was simultaneously cursing out the doctor while trying to hit on the nurse.

“Hey, Steve,” Tony said when he saw Steve sitting there. “These assholes cut off my favorite shirt!”

“Hey, Tony. How ya feeling?” Steve asked.

“Not too bad, just kind of shaken up. How’s Bruce?” Tony asked.

“He didn’t look too good,” Steve said with a shake of his head.

“Damn,” Tony said with a sigh as they kept wheeling him, right into the next room.

Steve was checked out by a doctor not soon after that and said that all he suffered from was a mild concussion and that he would be just fine with a few weeks of rest. Soon after he was released by the doctors, the police came up to him in the waiting room. And Steve had nothing to hide. He told them everything, starting from when the guys had arrived at the drive-in that night. He didn’t mention that they didn’t pay to get in, but Steve thought that hardly mattered to the story. The police told him that his story checked out with Tony’s and that he was free to go for now and if they had any further questions they’d come find him at his house. Steve thanked them and then had to deal with the reporters that had already gotten wind of the story. He didn’t tell them about anything that happened with Brock or Bruce before they skipped town. None of them seemed to be interested in that, anyway. They all wanted to know about the heroes that had saved the six kids from the burning church. Steve told them all that he remembered and admitted that some of it was fuzzy since he had been unconscious and now had a concussion and all. He was so relieved when they finally left and he was once again alone.

“Stevie,” Steve would know that voice anywhere. He turned his head to see that Bucky and Sam had just walked in and Bucky was giving him the biggest grin he had ever seen on that beautiful face of his.

“Bucky!” Steve stood and Bucky ran over. He pulled Steve into his arms and hugged him tightly against his chest.

“I missed you so much. Are you okay? Did the doctors see you? What did they say? Are you hurt?” Bucky threw so many questions at him at once that Steve couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Bucky, Bucky, relax. I’m okay. I just have a slight concussion but it doesn’t even hurt. I just gotta rest for a few weeks, that’s all. I missed you, too. Oh, I missed you so much, Buck,” Steve pulled Bucky in for another hug. Bucky happily returned it before placing a loving kiss on his lips. Steve smiled at him before stepping back so he could catch his breath. He looked up and he noticed Sam was watching him. Steve took a deep breath and frowned once he realized that there were tears in Sam’s eyes.

“Steve… Steve, I am so damn sorry,” Sam said quietly. Steve could tell he was seconds away from full out crying.

“Oh, Sam,” Steve took a few large steps forward and hugged Sam tightly. “It’s okay.”

“I’m so glad that you’re okay. I was terrified,” Sam said as he squeezed Steve in his arms.

“I’m sorry I ran out like that,” Steve said.

“I’m so sorry for what I said Steve, you have to know that,” Sam pleaded.

“I do know that,” Steve said. He pulled back and gave Sam a look to show that he meant it.

“Steve?” a nurse came up to the trio in the hall.

“Yeah?” Steve let go of Sam so that he could turn around and look at her.

“Hi. Are these your friends?” she asked.

“Yes. Do you have news about Tony and Bruce? Because they can hear it too,” Steve told her. She smiled and nodded, just wanting to make sure that this news was acceptable to share with everyone there.

“Alright, well,” she began. “Tony is going to be just fine. Aside from his irate behavior, which I assume is normal for him, he just has some burns on his arms. The doctors just want to keep him overnight to make sure that they don’t get infected. And well, Bruce… The beam that fell on Bruce’s back broke his spine. He is still unconscious because for the moment the doctor feels it would be best to keep him that way. He is on medication and the staff is doing everything that they can. Unfortunately though, even if he does survive, he will be paralyzed. We’re not sure from at what point yet, but he certainly won’t be able to walk again.”

The news hit the three of them like a ton of bricks. It was as if the gravity of this situation was finally taking ahold of them. Steve felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. It was as if he was back in the burning building all over again.

“I’m so sorry,” the nurse added as if this would take all of Bruce’s problems away.

“Thank you,” Steve managed to get out weakly. But thanking her was the last thing that he wanted to do. She had just told him that one of his best friends, who had just risked his life to save the lives of innocent children, would never be able to walk again _at best_.

Steve felt Bucky’s arm wrap around his waist and give a small squeeze.

“Can we see them?” Sam asked.

“Yes, but visiting hours are over in half an hour. But…take your time. If anyone gives you trouble just tell them that Maria said it was okay,” she said with a sad smile.

“Thank you, Maria,” Bucky said.

The three of them decided to just rip the band aid right off and go see Bruce first. They all took a deep breath before walking in the room. The only sound came from the soft beeps that the machines were making. Bruce had never looked so small or so helpless. He was strapped to the table so securely it was as if he was a string on a guitar. His face still had some ash on it and some of his curls were still plastered to his forehead because of the sweat. At least he looked somewhat peaceful since he was asleep. It helped the boys a bit, but not much since they knew the true severity of his injuries.

“He’ll pull through,” Bucky eventually broke the silence. “He’s Bruce. He’s the comeback kid.”

“He hates being called a kid,” Sam reminded him.

“But that’s what he is. He’s just a kid,” Bucky said. His voice cracked and Steve could see the tears pooling in the corner of Bucky’s eyes.

“Come on. Let’s go see Tony,” Steve suggested. He wrapped his arm over Bucky’s shoulders as they all took one more look at Bruce before leaving his room.

Tony’s room was at the other end of the hospital so there were only technically five more minutes of visiting hours by the time that they got there.

“Hey, if it ain’t the fugly bunch,” Tony said when he saw the three of them. “You got your fuck buddy back, Buck.”

“I see you’re not feeling too bad,” Sam said.

“Nah, I’m good,” Tony said with a shake of his head. “They wanna keep me over night but I just need to wait until they switch shifts then I can sneak out of here one, two, three.”

“Don’t, Tony,” Steve said.

“And why shouldn’t I?” Tony questioned. “That’s rich coming from the guy who was told he could be home right now. But where are you still right now? Oh, that’s right the hospital. Go the fuck home.”

“We wanted to see you guys before we left,” Bucky said.

At the mention of “you guys” Tony’s face went pale. He had trouble looking the guys in the eye for a moment.

“How is he?” Tony finally asked.

“He ain’t looking too good,” Steve said.

“Nurse said if he makes it he’ll still be paralyzed his whole life,” Bucky added.

“ _If?_ What the fuck does that mean? There shouldn’t be a fucking “if” about it. This is a hospital, they’re supposed to save lives here,” Tony said.

“Tony, relax,” Sam said.

Tony gritted his teeth and took a deep breath before nodding his head. He knew rationally that getting upset over this wouldn’t change a damn thing.

“You guys should get on home. Got a rumble tomorrow to rest up for,” Tony said.

“Not Steve,” Bucky said.

“Bucky,” Steve started.

“We’ll talk about it at home,” Sam interrupted. “Get some sleep, Tony.”

“I doubt that,” Tony said.

Steve, Bucky, and Sam walked out of Tony’s room and out of the hospital, into the parking lot, and into Sam’s truck. The drive home was mostly silent. What was one supposed to say when a best friend is potentially dying in the hospital at this very moment?

“I’m fighting tomorrow,” is the first thing Steve said when the three of them walked in the house.

“Steve, the doctor said--,” Bucky started.

“I’m fighting,” Steve said again.

“You have a concussion, Steve. Another blow to the head could kill you. And you know those Hydras don’t give a shit. They’ll beat ya senseless and not give it a second thought,” Sam said.

“I have to do this,” Steve said. “For Bruce. Bruce won’t ever be able to stand up again. Or take a walk with us down to the lot. You think I’m going to let a little headache keep me from sticking with my brothers? Bruce would do it for us if he could, so I’m sure as hell going to do it for him.”

Neither Bucky nor Sam had anything to say that could make Steve change his mind and they all knew it.

“I think we should all get some rest then,” Sam finally said.

Steve nodded and walked into his and Bucky’s room. Bucky followed in behind him and slipped his shirt off over his head.

“There’s something I haven’t said since I’ve seen you, Steve,” Bucky said.

“I’m fighting, Bucky. You can’t say anything that’s gonna change my mind,” Steve warned him.

“No, not about that,” Bucky said as he finished changing into his pajamas for the night.

“Then what?” Steve asked. He let out a yawn as he looked over at the clock on the bedside table. No wonder he was exhausted, it was after midnight. Well, that plus the fact that he had been a fugitive sleeping on the floor of an old abandoned church for the past week.

Bucky walked over and placed his hands on Steve’s hips.

“I love you,” Bucky said.

Steve smiled and leaned in, pressing his lips lightly on top of Bucky’s.

“I love you too,” answered Steve. “Come on, let’s get to bed.”

“Mmm, I bet you missed sleeping next to me?” Bucky teased as he laid down on the bed. Steve laid down next to him and chuckled. “And you must’ve missed fooling around, huh?”

Steve smiled when Bucky started kissing at his neck.

“Yeah, I did miss both of those things,” Steve said as he turned on his side. “But there was one thing I definitely missed more.”

“Oh, yeah? And what might that be?” Bucky asked.

Steve let out a content sigh and curled up.

“My pillow.”

Bucky smacked him over the head with his own pillow and for the first time in a while, Steve let out a real genuine laugh.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying it so far! So, I've got a tumblr for my writing. If you wanna give it a follow, it's harlequinfabray.tumblr.com :) See you guys for chapter 3!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Just in case it wasn't clear to anyone who has read the novel: Steve is modeled after Ponyboy, Bucky: Sodapop, Sam: Darry, Bruce: Johnny, Tony: Dally, Clint: Two-Bit, Thor: Steve, Natasha: Cherry, Wanda: Marcia, Brock: Bob, Pietro: Randy, and Loki is an additional member of Hydra (Socs). See you all next time for chapter 2!


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